Women bound over in Sears robbery case

A robbery at a Midland Mall store a year ago resulted in felony charges against two women, and the cases against them remain ongoing.

Charged in the April 3, 2010, robbery of Sears, 6810 Eastman Ave., are Maria Gina Leal, 21, and Maria Delacruz Garcia, 43, both of Saginaw.

At the time, police said the women stole merchandise from the store and assaulted store employees before fleeing, inflicting minor injuries.

A preliminary hearing transcript sheds more light on the incident and the charges against the pair: Each faces one count each of unarmed robbery, and Leal also faces one count of felonious assault. Court documents state she used an automobile to assault an employee. The maximum penalty for unarmed robbery is up to 15 years in prison; felonious assault in punishable by up to four years in prison.

In a transcript of the preliminary hearing for Garcia, conducted by Midland County District Court Judge John H. Hart, the store's loss prevention manager stated she used a closed circuit television system to watch Garcia select items and place them in a shopping card without regard to price or size. While her partner continued to watch on the video system, the manager went to the sales floor to watch the suspect because she was close to a door to the parking lot.

After the suspect left the store with the cart of merchandise, but without paying for it, the manager stopped her. The suspect struggled with the manager, shoving her, and the manager was able to push the suspect up against a wall.

"I was going to try to ... hold her there until the officer showed up," the manager testified. Then, "a white vehicle pulled up onto the sidewalk. A person came running out of the car at my back. At that point in time, I let her go, afraid of who's coming to run at my back."

After the manager let the suspect go, the suspect and other woman got into the car and left.

All of the merchandise from the cart, with the exception of one bag the suspect was able to grab before getting into the vehicle, was recovered. It was valued at $968.83, the manager said.

Garcia's case was bound over to the Midland County Circuit Court by Hart after the preliminary hearing. The case against Leal also was bound to the circuit court by Hart after she waived her preliminary hearing. Both are set for jury trials, Leal on May 11-12, and Garcia on July 18-19.